클리오 트로피와 MR2: 20살에 두 개의 Z세대 보석을 다시 방문하다

These two fine sportsters have been battling it out since the early 2000s

While our road testers were rigorously testing the latest metal for Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2025, photographer Jack Harrison and I decided to mark the occasion in our own way – by reuniting two former BBDC contenders from a very different era. 
Last year I bought a 2005 Renault Clio 182 Trophy, and have spent the past year returning it to factory order by refitting its trick Sachs remote reservoir dampers, restoring the alloys and upgrading the interior. 
Read: Britain’s Best Driver’s Car 2025
Jack, meanwhile, recently acquired a very tidy 2004 Toyota MR2, which has been lightly fettled with a Toyota Team Europe exhaust and obligatory ‘Autocar’ sticker affixed to its roll-bar. 
Both of these fine sporters took part in Handling Day in the early 2000s, and between them represent a period when driver’s cars were not only fun and engaging, but also affordable. 
Indeed, the cheapest car at this year’s contest w